Enhanced heat transport in thermal convection with suspensions of expandable particles

Thermal convection of fluid is an efficient way than diffusion to carry heat flux from hot sources to cold places. Here, we experimentally study the Rayleigh-B\'enard convection of aqueous glycerol solution in a cubic cell with suspensions of rod-like particles made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The thermal expansion coefficient of the particles is larger than that of the background fluid. This contrast makes the suspended particles lighter than the local fluid in hot regions and heavier in cold regions. The heat transport is enhanced at relatively large Rayleigh number ($Ra$) but reduced at small $Ra$. We demonstrate that the increase of Nusselt number arises from the particle-boundary layer interactions: the particles act as "active" mixers of the flow and temperature fields across the boundary layers.